Blades on seven game road swing

The Saskatoon Blades will reach the halfway point of their current seven game road trip on Friday, with some mixed results. The Blades (16-24-3-0, 35 points) lost two blow-outs to teams ahead of them in the standings — a 6-2 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors (22-15-5-1, 50 points) to start their trip and a 9-2 defeat by the Spokane Chiefs (20-17-3-2, 45 points) on Wednesday night. In between those two games the Blades handily defeated the league-worst Kootenay Ice (8-33-3-0, 19 points) by a 5-1 score. The Blades have four upcoming games against American opponents. Their next game is on Friday against the Tri City Americans (17-23-2-0, 36 points). Saskatoon is currently four points behind the Edmonton Oil Kings for the final wild card playoff spot with 29 regular season games to play.

Canada into finals at female U18 hockey championshipFor the ninth year in a row Team Canada’s U18 women’s hockey team will face the United States in the IIHF U18 women’s world championship final on Friday. Canada defeated Russia 4-0 on Thursday in the semifinal in St. Catharines, Ont. Ashton Bell had two goals. Saskatoon’s Sophie Shirley was held scoreless in the game but is tied for the team lead with Bell with three tournament goals. Canada and the United States have each won the championship four times since the tournament first began play in 2008. The gold medal final will be broadcast on Sportsnet West at 6:30 p.m. (Sask. time) on Friday.

Ticats sign former Huskie linebackerUniversity of Saskatchewan Huskies linebacker Geoff Hughes signed with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday. Hughes suited up for the Huskies for five seasons from 2011-15. The Regina native recorded 88 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, six pass break ups and a forced fumble in 27 career games. An engineering major, Hughes has been a CIS Academic All-Canadian every season with the Huskies.

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